Our last webinar on “5 Landing Page Optimization Tips to Improve Conversion Immediately” raised a number of interesting questions. Due to lack of time, we were unable to answer all the questions then. In this post, we have included the rest. Here’s the webinar recording, in case you missed it:
Question 1
Is it necessary to add client information on the landing page or can I add social proof on that page? In case of social proof, would that divert the visitor’s attention from the target page?
It depends on the kind of business you are in and what is the value of social proof for the kind of audience you are targeting. Social proof is often mistaken for just testimonials. There are different kinds of social proofs, like images, videos, customer logos, etc.
Let’s say, if you are selling some high value product or service – it could be a few hundred thousand dollars – then social proof would work best if the testimonial belongs to a well-known personality or organization. Hence, if you say, IBM bought my product or IBM bought my service, that would be much more important in my opinion.
However, if you are selling to consumers, then client testimonial will actually have a very significant impact. I’m not saying it would be zero or nil for B2B. I’m just saying the kind of social proof you use would depend on your product or service.
Testimonials with images or social proof are far better than just a testimonial (with no image or social proof). Here’s an example:
Notice how the testimonial is accompanied by the image of that person. Client information has also been provided. In some cases, that is represented in the form of a social proof (Eg. Link to his/her LinkedIn profile). Ideally, social proof would not divert the attention of the visitor because the visitor is on your page because they are interested in your product or service. Rather, it would act as a benefiting factor by adding authenticity.
Question 2
Do pop up inquiry windows actually help in SEO or lead conversion?
Pop up inquiry windows will not help in SEO. But as far as conversion is concerned, they do matter. If someone is trying to roam around on your website and if you have something cool to offer to them, which they would otherwise not look for, but you throw that in front of them and they like it, then they will actually take it. Which means, they will convert. So yes, it helps in conversions.
The important element here is the offer. A pop up with a high value offer can double conversions. Here’s a good example of a high value offer on a pop, from Quick Sprout.
On the downside, it can also be very disruptive. If that is the case, you can use slider forms instead.
Question 3
For online corporate training, what is the best position for testimonial and lead capture form?
There is no best position really. I’m assuming you are inquiring about where to position the testimonial on the landing page and not the website. Ideally it should be visible above the fold. If you are doing corporate training then your other potential corporate trainers would look for some sort of validation of your firm. For example, what kind of customers has this company catered to, and so on. In case of students, I would take a personal approach. If I was a student, I would really look for the preview of the program. If I like the preview, then I’d probably look at the testimonial.
Question 4
If landing pages are not part of the website, should we create a new page every time a new offer is rolled out and delete the previous page?
You don’t need to delete the older landing page because you would want to analyze the conversion rates for a particular campaign later on as well. However, if your offer is completely different from the first one, then it does make sense to create a new landing page for the offer. On the other hand, if the offer is the same, and you just want to use it on different channels, then you can use the same landing page everywhere, but use tracking URLs, so that you know where the lead is coming from.
Besides, if you use a landing page creation tool, then you don’t need to create the landing page from scratch every time. There are multiple templates available for you to choose from. You can even clone your older pages, if your new offer is somewhat similar to the older one, and edit the elements that have changed (like, the headline, form, etc.)
Question 5
Are landing pages used in email campaigns only?
No, landing pages can be used everywhere – on your PPC campaigns, Social media campaigns, website, blog, and everywhere else, where you can put a link.
Question 6
Where to redirect after the submitting form?
The visitor should be redirected to a relevant page, rather a page which is related to the form. For example, if the form submitted was an “E-Book Download” landing page, the person should be redirected to that E-Book’s “Thank You Page” where the E-Book can be accessed. You could also share links to other E-Books or resources that you may have, from that page. The aim should be to keep the visitor engaged with relevant content, as long as you can. Here’s an example:
1. Visitor lands on E-Book Landing Page and fills up the submission form:
2. After form submission, visitor is redirected to the E-Book ‘Thank You’ Page:
Notice how the redirected page has links to other similar resources like Webinars, E-Books, and Blog (on the top right).
Question 7
What is the acceptable load time for landing page?
Less than 3-4 seconds is what you need to aim for. Studies have shown that in some cases there has been a double digit dip in conversion where the load time has gone down from 2 seconds to 4 seconds, and substantial dip beyond 4-5 seconds.
If you can have a server which can throw the pages faster, use them. This becomes more important if you have high volume of traffic visiting your page. Make use of Google’s Page Speed tools to find what your page’s loading time is, and what are the elements increasing the loading time on each page. Here’s an example of how that would look:
As you can see in the image above, Google shows not only the problem areas but ways to fix them as well (both for mobile and desktop). Also, it shows what you are doing right. You can use Pingdom for the same purpose as well.
Question 8
How can we calculate conversion rates?
You would need to use a tool for this or set up the conversion appropriately in respective places from where you are driving traffic. Here are three things you could use to calculate conversion rates:
- Tool for landing page: You can use tools like LeadSquared to help you find the conversion rate on the landing page.
- Conversion Goal in Google Analytics: Set up Google Analytics, Google Performance and other similar tools. Here’s a guide from Search Engine Journal to get you started.
- Conversion Tracking Script for Adwords and Facebook: You could refer to this post to set up Facebook Conversion Tracking.
Question 9
Is the photo of a person necessary in the testimonial? Does it add more value?
I think it helps the cause because it gives the visitor a better perception of what you are trying to sell and definitely adds authenticity. If you are using photos, try to get high quality photos. High quality photos help you engage or retain the attention of the visitor for a longer duration. I would recommend you to even spend money on it, if needed.
Question 10
Is it necessary for the colour of company logo, to be the same on every page?
If you have a company logo, which most businesses have, you can use that logo in all the pages to make it consistent. We have used our logo in variety of colours and landing pages, but what we have seen is that the conversion is not a function of just the logo. It depends on so many other things. Yes, for aesthetics, and to drive a brand identity, you may want to be colour-conscious. But I doubt that has a substantial impact on the conversion. Let’s say if you are getting fresh traffic, the visitor doesn’t even know about you, so he/she wouldn’t have looked at your website in the first place, to know the actual colour of the logo.
Question 11
What is the correct place for testimonials on a website?
I think that’s a question for the website people to answer. It can be on the first page itself. Wherever it is, it should be visible.
Question 12
What are your findings on which methods of signup are working for Facebook / Google / Email?
It varies from business to business. For consumer-led businesses, social would be a good option. In case of B2B businesses, a lot of our customers have told us that social doesn’t really give them relevant leads. In Google Ads, you will find people looking for the stuff you offer, but the question would be, are you making enough out of whatever you are spending? If you are, that is a good channel to go for.
Question 13
Can we use pop up windows in landing pages?
You can use pop ups while somebody is exiting the page. That would be the last attempt for you to ask them to share their information. But if someone lands on your page, you would want them to actually look at what you are trying to tell them rather than show them a pop-up. Here, I’m talking about traffic which you bring in from ad sources and not somebody who is on your website and then you are showing them pop ups. They are two different things. I’m assuming you are referring to the first one, not the second.
Question 14
What is the appropriate image to text ratio in landing page?
If you can convey your message without any text, go for it. Nobody wants to read long lines. If you go to the old-style websites where the content is written in very small Times Roman font, which is barely readable, you would probably understand what I’m trying to say. The only thing you need to worry about is heavy-loaded images. There is no conversion because the image is not going to load. The image needs to balance with the landing page load time as well. To counter this problem, try not to use external URLs for images, and use tools like SmushIt to reduce the image size. This would improve your page load time.
What should be the bidding strategy for running Facebook ads?
– See more at: https://www.leadsquared.com/webinar-6-lead-generation-strategies-using-social-media/#sthash.HouUYzWG.dpuf
